Trade Minister, Mark Vaile, today welcomed the World Trade Organisation's decision to establish a Dispute Settlement Panel to consider Australia's case against US restrictions on imports of Australian lamb. "The US import restrictions are not justified under the WTO and we shall be making that point very strongly to the Panel. This will not be an easy fight but the Australian Government is determined to tackle these unfair and excessive US restrictions head-on, " Mr Vaile said. "The US decision to impose a tariff-quota on Australian lamb exports impacts adversely on our lamb producers who have worked hard to develop the US market over a number of years. The Government is determined to pursue the issue vigorously through the WTO disputes procedure. The establishment of the Panel is an important step." "Australia is working closely with New Zealand which has lodged a similar complaint." The WTO Dispute Settlement Body is required to make a ruling by next August. The establishment of the Panel follows the failure of bilateral consultations with the US in late August under the auspices of the WTO. The panel will be made of three people who will be selected over the next few weeks.
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